What we learned today, Monday 21 October
This is where we’ll wrap up the blog for the day, but first a recap of the main events:
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, said “the worst is behind us” when it comes to inflation.
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has defended the housing plan to rezone affluent areas. And stamp duty for off-the-plan homes is being slashed in a stimulus bid.
The federal energy minister, Chris Bowen, said the government will accelerate the pace of an auction system that helps underwrite the rollout of renewables.
Sydney’s Entertainment Quarter at Moore Park is set for redevelopment, with the state government opening a tender process for its long-term lease.
Qantas was ordered to pay $170,000 to three workers illegally sacked at start of pandemic.
The deputy Liberal leader, Sussan Ley, registered the purchase of a plane.
Hephner the alpaca met King Charles at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
A man was arrested outside the Australian War Memorial, where King Charles and Queen Camilla were visiting earlier.
Senator Lidia Thorpe turned her back on King Charles and Queen Camilla as they stood to attention for the national anthem at a parliamentary reception in Canberra. Thorpe was then removed from the reception after yelling “you stole from us” at king.
Thorpe said she had intended to hand the king “a notice of complicity in genocide”.
The Australian Monarchist League demanded Thorpe’s resignation after her “failed attempt to disrupt His Majesty the King” at Parliament House this afternoon.
The live news blog will be back tomorrow morning.
Updated
Charles marvels at rainforest gully in botanic gardens
In their last formal event in Canberra during this visit at the Australian National Botanic Gardens, King Charles walked down a path of rocky stairs into the rainforest gully with the head of the gardens, Dr Rebecca Pirzl. He held tightly to the rail and at the bottom of the steep stairs, paused touching a large tree and looked up into its canopy.
As Queen Camilla made her way down the steps cautiously in her heels, the king told Pirzl “it’s extraordinary” while looking down the gully, which features plants from the diverse rainforests from Tasmania to Queensland.
The king and queen walked along the lower boardwalk in the gully, Charles initially striding off quickly before Camilla called to him to slow down.
They paused for photos before making their way up more rocky steps to the tree planting location.
Updated
